Session 18
In which... Story 998:Tiar:24-Vio:3 Jezre, Flynwrick, and Balurt met and convinced Mira (PC) to accompany them to the Ziggurat to clear it out once and for all, for both loot and Balurt's snake god. The party stocked up, purchased horses, and set out in the unseasonal August snow. Shortly before reaching the Ziggurat, the party found a hopelessly diseased creature dying in the frost and put it out of its misery. Upon reaching the Ziggurat, the party discovered it overgrown with fleshy, pustulous tendrils entwined around and through it like a fist squeezing spagetti. The party entered through the back and entered what was formerly the feast chamber, bursting in upon a clutch of man-sized demon monkeys and a giant, fleshy, phallic pillar thrusting up from the ground into the ceiling. They disposed of the monkeys with minimal issues (and mostly avoiding the spores they released upon death). They took a few whacks at the flesh pillar, cuing terrifying screams from up above and monkey battlecries from a nearby room. The party set a trap and waited, but they heard a crescendo of screams and a bang. Shortly after, 5 monkeys and a massively muscled behemoth of their species (named "Lawrence") ran through their trap into the room. The party made short work of them, with only Mira being knocked into unconsciousness during the battle. Balurt knocked the behemoth out with massive sweeps of his greatsword. The party was fairly exhausted after the battle, and after raiding the summoning room and disturbing the circle, the party left to rest. Upon their return they quickly slew the rats in the storage closet and recovered an artifact that offered them immunity from the plague trap door. Upon exploring the rest of the ground floor, they found it deserted, with not a single human resident. They mounted the stairs to the upper level, the tendrils thickening across the walls, ceiling and floor, narrowing into a fleshy tunnel as the party approached where Anod performed his experiments. Cleaving through the membrane that grew over the door, the party burst into a room made of woven, writhing tendrils to face Urist, horribly deformed and wielding an obsidian axe, Mira (plague demigoddess), massive and grown into the fleshy tree structure, and two demon monkey attendants. Mira's horrific visage struck Mira dumb, making her babble incoherently, and drove Flynwrick to mindless fear, but he manages to hold together for a short time. The elf suffered early damage, but summoned a flaming orb and left it to burn Mira as the rest of the party recouped. Balurt and Mira knocked out the monkeys quickly, and the party launched a concerted assault on Urist. The party was constantly assaulted by plague during the battle, with Mira and Jezre falling seriously ill. Mira gave a hard fight and just before she was knocked out, she mind controlled Jezre. Jezre was quickly knocked out by the rest of the party, however, and brought to her senses. Balurt and Flynwrick transported the hacked-free Mira because they weren't as seriously afflicted, so her magic was unlikely to sway them. They took her to the serpent god because Balurt had to, and Flynwrick didn't bother arguing or asking questions because there wasn't any time left in the session. The snake ate Mira and rewarded Balurt with a lance upgrade. Mira and Jezre took a chunk of Mira to Hextia and traded it for information on where they could discover the mystical "ability points". No one died! Or even suffered horrific consequences! Key Events Quotes